Localization

Official notification of a trade or business; Change of registration of a trade or business

It is mandatory to notify any material changes in the trade or business activities or any relocation of the trades or businesses within the community.

Description

A change of registration of a trade or business may become necessary if you

relocate the registered place of business of your trade or business within the community;

if you change the object of your trade or business; or

if you extend the object of your trade or business to goods or services which are not in line with the normal business practices of the trade or business enterprise types registered.

Although certain trades or businesses do not require an official authorization, they are subject to supervision of their activities by the public authorities (the so-called trade or businesses requiring official authorization acc. to. § 38 of the German Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act - GewO). This applies notably to the following branches of trade or industry:

Purchase and sale by trades or businesses specialized in the second-hand goods trade;

Sale and installation of building security installations including lock-and-key services; and

Manufacture and selling of special theft-related opening tools.

Each change of registration of a trade or business must be made in writing, using the standard form provided. Receipt of the registration of a trade or business will be acknowledged by the competent public authority.

Every change of registration of a trade or business will also be notified to other authorities (e.g. the Internal Revenue Service, Chamber of Crafts and Skilled Trades, or Chamber of Industry and Commerce).

Prerequisites

Legal age or permit by the guardianship court

Deadlines

Notification is mandatory in case of a relocation of the trade or business, or in case of a change of the object of the trade or business.

In case of change of registration of a trade or business requiring special supervision, the respective tradesperson's or businessperson's reliability will be investigated immediately. For this reason the applicant is under obligation to produce a written certificate of reliability.